The present invention relates to automatic setup systems for television cameras and particularly to an apparatus and method for continuously monitoring the status and diagnostic condition of a camera, along with the camera video signal, during the automatic setup of multiple cameras.
In the very recent past, television cameras such as broadcast quality studio cameras, and electronic field production (EFP) cameras, have become more and more sophisticated. Such increasing sophistication has included the use of digital techniques throughout their design; i.e., the camera systems employ microprocessor control with associated memories and various degrees of digital logic. Such digital techniques also facilitate the use of automation whereby various highly sophisticated and totally automated digital error measurement and error correction systems are employed to correct scan raster spatial errors, black and white shading errors, focus adjustments, gamma adjustments, etc.
By way of example, such digital techniques may include an automatic setup unit (ASU) which automatically generates error measurement signals during the setup mode of the camera, and then supplies the signals in digital form to a digital spatial error corrector (SEC) circuit located in the camera head. In the ASU, the spatial, shading, etc., errors are measured by providing a comparison between a geometrically perfect electronic test pattern (ETP) signal and the camera signal generated by scanning an optical test pattern. The optical test pattern contains a given pattern of horizontal and vertical black and white lines, i.e., small black and white checkers, corresponding to the electronic test pattern horizontal and vertical frequencies. During an automatic setup mode, the signal from each tube of a plurality of cameras is compared to the electronically generated test pattern via an ASU microprocessor to derive the spatial and shading errors for each tube in the succession of cameras.
Thus, in such microprocessor controlled multiple camera setup systems, camera and tube identification, the camera status information derived during the automatic setup procedure and the extent of the progress of each camera during the setup procedure is contained in the memory of the ASU microprocessor.
It follows that it would be extremely useful and would further the efficiency in setting up multiple cameras, if the status of the camera setup process for each camera could be monitored and displayed in some manner convenient to an operator. Thus, for example, it would be useful if the operator could visually monitor a display which included information such as the number of the camera being processed, the extent to which the setup process has progressed for that camera, the successful completion of the setup process of each camera, any errors that may exist during the setup, the identification and location of the error, etc.
Accordingly, the invention combination provides a heretofore unavailable system which continuously monitors and displays the status and diagnostic condition of a camera in a plurality of cameras during an automatic setup procedure, wherein the status information from each camera is displayed via a single video monitor convenient to the operator. In addition, the display is inserted in one of several video signals of the camera that is selected and is being processed by the ASU. Thus, the system further provides means to display the absolute displacement errors in any chroma channel of any camera being processed.
To these ends, circuit means is provided to generate an insert time window corresponding to the size of the display and to its desired location in the video picture. A command bus from a camera system microprocessor provides command bytes to a control bus latch and memory circuit which selectively latches data from the microprocessor regarding camera identification, status, errors, etc. The latched data are subsequently read out in response to read enable signals from a control read-only memory (ROM). The latched command data is selectively multiplexed to character generator means in response to the control ROM. The character generator means provides a character video signal which is displayed within the insert to provide the display. In addition, selectable video from the camera being set up is provided; viz, conventional multiplexed video, spatial error video and/or character video is displayed on the monitor as a conventional video picture and/or the display which is superimposed on the picture.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an operator with the status and diagnostic condition of a plurality of video cameras at a common monitor location.
It is another object to display the status and diagnostic condition of a camera together with a selected video signal therefrom, during an automatic setup procedure of a multi-camera system.
It is a further object to provide a display system for monitoring the status of a camera in a multi-camera system utilizing data stored in the camera measurement system during an automatic setup procedure.
Still another object is to provide a monitor system which displays video indicative of the existing spatial errors in a camera being set up, to determine the extent of spatial mis-registration of a camera prior to initiating a complete setup procedure.